Winter Flowers
by x - painted.flames
Summary: Sesshoumaru and Rin; ---- A little human girl's first experience with winter's snow, and a demon lord's explanation to her.


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Another one of my older fics I wrote on a whim. I decided to post it just for the heck of it.

I know it's short, but like I said. Whims.

**Inspired by the song 'Winter Love' by BoA.**

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**_Winter Flowers_**

Small chocolate brown eyes flutterered open to a world of white. "Nani?" questioned the little brunette human girl. Rin sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, but the world stayed as white as ever. She hesitantly reached out a hand and touched the soft white stuff, before jerking back with a small squeal as the coldness seeped into her fingertips. She then noticed that the whiteness she was sitting on was neither wet nor cold. "Nani?" she questioned again, patting it curiously. She grabbed a small tuft of it and jerked hard, which unepexctedly made it flip out from under her, landing her hard on her bottom in the cold, wet, white stuff. She squealed, and scrambled back into the whiteness she knew to be safe and warm. Once settled into it, she began to examine her surroundings more closely.

That same white stuff, the kind that was cold and wet, was blanketed over everthing as far as her little human eyes could see. Crystal-like spikes dangled from the branches of the trees, droplets of water dripping from their points. She tilted her head up to see some hanging from the very tree she was sitting under. She gazed at her distorted reflection in the crystals, her eyes filled with curiousity and wonder. Suddenly a small white flake drifted past it, obscuring part of her reflection for a moment, before floating down to the ground. Another one of these white flakes drifted down towards her, and this time she eagerly reached out her hand to catch it. But as soon as it touched her warm skin, all she found left in her palm was a small droplet of water. She frowned, and reached out and cupped another one between her hands. But again, when she opened them, all she found was water. Her brow furrowed for a moment, before she had an idea that was typically Rin. She pulled up the edge of the white stuff she was sitting on and held it out in front of her for the flakes to land on. As soon as one did she eagerly put her head forward to gaze in wonder and the minaturate formation. "Flowers!" she exclaimed joyously.

A soft chuckle came from behind her, and an all-too-familiar voice said, "No Rin, not flowers."

Rin whirled around, dropping the fluffy whiteness in her haste, to stare up into amber eyes. "Sesshoumaru-sama!" she exclaimed, then looked down to realize the soft white stuff she was standing on was the fur he always wore. "Ahhh!" She hurriedly jumped off, then gave a yelp and scrambled back on as her bare feet touched the cold whiteness.

An flicker of amusement played in Sesshoumaru's eyes as he watched the little girl's antics.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, what happened to everything?" the little girl asked, her chocolate brown eyes imploring him. "Is it another one of Naraku's spells?"

Sesshoumaru almost smiled. Almost, but not quite. "No Rin. It's winter."

"Winter?"

"The time when everything becomes cold. Plants and trees die. Flowers too."

"But there are flowers right there!" Rin protested, pointing down at the cold white stuff.

"No Rin. Not flowers." Sesshoumaru reached out a lavender striped hand and scooped some of it up, holding in front of her. "Snow."

"Snow?" Rin tilted her head questioningly.

"Yes Rin. Like the snowflakes you tried to catch before," he said with slight amusement in his voice.

"Snowflakes?" Rin jerked her head up to stare at these things her lord called snowflakes as they fluttered down to meet her. She pointed up at the crystal formations. "But what are those?"

"They're called icicles."

"Icicles?" Rin turned back to her lord and tilted her head.

"Like hard snow." Sesshoumaru reached up and broke one off of a low branch. "Here. You can suck on it."

Rin hesitantly took the icicle, squealing a bit at the coldness, then hesitantly stuck out her small pink tongue and touched it to the glassy surface. It felt cold, but good, very good. She pulled her tongue back in and lifted her head to stare at her lord in wonder. "It's good!"

"Don't hold on to it too long though, you'll get frostbite," Sesshoumaru warned.

Rin was about to ask what frostbite was, when her childlike mind thought up a more interesting question. "But where does it all come from?" she asked, gesturing at the wonderland around her.

"The snow falls from the sky, like rain. And the icicles form from the water in the snow," Sesshoumaru replied slowly, trying to offer up an explanation the young one would understand.

"Like rain?" Rin asked as she turned to gaze at the snow covered world.

"Like rain."

"It's so beautiful..." she said softly, taking a step forward, not quite into the snow yet, then looked back and gave her lord a questioning glance. He nodded, and she broke into a wide grin, before running out into the snow, not paying any attention to the cold or the wet. She raised her hands and tried to catch the snowflakes as they fell, laughing and giggling in her childish delight when she found that was sprinkled over her chocolate brown hair as well.

Sesshoumaru watched the child's antics for awhile from where he sat beneath the tree. Then, as Rin lay down and began moving her arms and legs back in forth, creating a shape in the snow which seemed to delight her greatly, he did something that he had only done before to strike fear in other's hearts.

He smiled.


End file.
